The internet has become a trusted resource for medical information and research.  A recent study showed that 80% of web users go online to find health-related information including a physician.  

What are those searching looking for?

Great question.  They are searching for professional consultations, information about health conditions, local medical practices and information regarding medication and healthcare products.

The National Institute of Health did a recent study that showed that between 2003 and 2005 there was an increase of 7% of people searching for healthcare and medical information. 

In the past doctors have fought the stigma regarding advertising and whether or not it’s ethical and a professional practice.  Many physicians are now realizing that in order to gain the trust and confidence of potential patients they must have an online presence.   People are simply going online first to find that physician they click with.

This both good news and bad news for the medical field. The good news is if they are finding you you have probably begun to see an influx of internet leads that are converting into long-term patients.  The bad news is that if they are not finding you — they are finding the physician in your area that does have an online presence and they are going to them instead.

It’s not enough to have a website, you must market that website.  It’s important to utilize search engine optimization, so that you are being found by those seeking your speciality.   Your website must also create a level of trust in order to help them in feeling comfortable to take the next step and make that phone call to setup an initial appointment.   

If you are not seeing leads from your website, I hate to tell you but there is something wrong.  Every physician should be gaining inquiries and leads through there website.  The problem could be in a number of areas including:

• Your website is not in the search engine results.
• Your website does not create the comfort level to encourage them to move to the next step.
• Your website does not contain the information a potential patient might be looking for. 

I am so confident in the services that we offer at ThePracticePros — a medical marketing and consulting agency that I am personally willing to offer you a no-cost consultation to provide you with a critique on your current web presence and offer you tips and suggestions on how you could improve it and turn it into a lead generator for your medical practice.  Contact me and let me know you saw the offer here. 

Last week on my way into work I noticed a billboard that displayed a proposal

Jennifer will you marry me 

–John

First off, thank goodness he included his picture after all how many Jennifer and Johns are there.  I actually giggled when I saw the billboard, because my first thought was how long has that been there.  I couldn’t help but to wonder if she had driven past it like I had done in previous days without it grabbing my attention.

My perception is now not only do we encounter banner blindness, but we have also developed a level of billboard blindness.  

Perhaps I’m cynical when it comes to romance, a woman scorned per say who doesn’t necessarily believe in the happily-ever-after myth, but I do hope for his sake that she saw it the first time, because wouldn’t that be a disappointment if she didn’t — eek! 

So John all of us who drive Northbound on I-35 into downtown Kansas City want to know what her answer was. Did she in fact say yes and did she see it on the first day it was displayed?  

For all the others reading this what do you think of traditional billboard advertising (not necessarily for proposals) —  Is it effective? 

We all have advertising budgets and at times it can be confusing on where we will get the most bang for our buck. How do we know where to advertise? Success is finding out where your target market is. Will you find them in traditional media such as magazines, newspaper, or perhaps even direct mail campaigns? Are you more likely to find them in interactive properties such as MySpace, YouTube, or perhaps in regular search engine queries? The first step into finding out how to allocate your marketing dollars is to identify where the target is and then tracking the results from those venues to tweak a campaign if necessary.

Is it just me or do others recognize that commercials lack the pizzazz and branding power that they once carried with them. Take for instance the latest commercials put out by Burger King. What is up with the scary looking figure that they are using to represent “the king?”  It seems each commercial I see lacks the professionalsim as well as the power to gain the results they are looking for.

Also, I wish companies would realize that rather than put together a low-budget commercial to allocate that budget elsewhere. A low-budget commercial only detours buyers because it represents just that “low budget.”